CONCENTRATIONS AND LOADS OF SOME COMPONENTS BROUGHT IN WITH PRECIPITATION AND FLOWING AWAY FROM FOOTHILL MICROCATCHMENT

Abstract: A five-year research investigated eleven quality indicators of precipitation water and water flowing away from an agricultural microcatchment located in the foothills of the Beskid Mały Mts. The amounts of rainfall and outflow were measured every day and the water samples were taken once a week. Most of the quality indicators had higher values for the outflow water than the precipitation water. The mean concentrations of chemical components in precipitation water were slightly greater in the non-vegetation season whereas those in outflow water were similar or varied less between the seasons. The mean annual loads of components carried away by outflow were greater than those delivered by rainfall, except for N-NH4 and PO43- that showed an opposite pattern. In the vegetation season both the loads delivered by rainfall and the loads carried away by outflow were higher than in the non-vegetation season.